Winnetka mom designs desk that helps fidgety students focus

Nancy Dellamore of Winnetka asked students and teachers at Hyde Park Day School in Northfield to help design the Focus Desk, which allows students to move and stand.

Nancy Dellamore of Winnetka asked students and teachers at Hyde Park Day School in Northfield to help design the Focus Desk, which allows students to move and stand. (Dayna Fields, Pioneer Press)

Dayna FieldsPioneer Press

Flexible desks allow “movement breaks.”

When adults think of their childhood school desks, they may not have very fond thoughts.

Featuring a small plastic work space affixed to a hard metal chair, the school desk has evolved little since its invention in the late 19th century, save for its materials.

"You think about yourself back in class. And even now I sit there – and I'm used to sitting a lot – and you start dozing off almost," said Nancy Dellamore, co-owner of The Marvel Group, a Chicago-based manufacturer of office and educational furnishings. "And it's the same way with kids. To sit and hear this talking and talking, after a while, you're not listening anymore."

Although she said it seems obvious to her now, Dellamore didn't see the need for a better school desk until her son was diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade. She soon learned that it was common for kids with learning disabilities to have a difficult time remaining still and seated throughout class, and her son was no exception. She was told by teachers that his constant moving about was becoming disruptive.

In sixth grade, she enrolled him at Hyde Park Day School in Northfield, a supportive educational setting for children with learning disabilities.

"He went to Hyde Park and they said, 'If you need to move, move. If you need to stand up, stand up,'" said Dellamore of Winnetka. "They found that kids, especially with learning differences, move a lot. They just do."

Dellamore's son, who recently graduated high school, thrived at Hyde Park, she said A big part of it, Dellamore said, was not being tied to a desk.

Three years ago, she began plans to design a desk that allows a student to stand up during class, without disrupting the classroom.

As a result, Marvel developed the Focus Desk, which has been on the market for nine months. Its signature feature is the FeatherTouch lift system, which allows a child to silently lift or lower the desk surface with minimal effort.

"We designed it for kids with learning differences, but what we found is that a lot of public schools are interested because — surprise, surprise — they're finding that kids move," Dellamore said. "And when kids move, they're more stimulated, they're more focused."

Lisa Skripps, who has been teaching at Hyde Park for 10 years, said kids with sensory issues often need "movement breaks" throughout the day to be able to remain focused. After Marvel outfitted both the Chicago and Northfield Hyde Park campuses with 120 Focus Desks in total, Skripps said the difference in learning was evidential.

"I think there's this old-school mentally that you learn best by sitting still and looking at the teacher, and it's not the case," said Skripps. "Even as adults … to be able to soak in information, we really need to move."

The enhancements don't stop there, however, as Marvel asked Hyde Park students and teachers to help make Focus Desk the ultimate learning station. They chocked their "dream desk" full of extras.

Drop leaves on each side of the desk allow students to expand their work space. Integrated privacy walls pop up for test taking or quiet study.

"The kids actually advocated and asked for the privacy shields on their own. They like to kind of bubble themselves in," said Skripps, who lives in Evanston. "And they can sit down and not be distracted by what's going on in the room."

Integrated storage features include color-coded hanging files, pencil cups, cabinet space for notebooks or a tablet, and an attached backpack hook.

Skripps said among her favorite features are the wheels attached to the bottom of each desk, which allow her students to reconfigure into rows, one big circle or small groups in under a minute.

"I do like, as a teacher, how easy it is to move across the room, because a lot of time that limits us," she said. "I think I need more space, but having the kids move their desks will cut into my instructional time a lot."

What's most exciting, she said, is seeing her students take control of their learning. At the start of the year, she asks restless kids to adjust their desks, she said. But by the end of the year, they know when they need to stand up or sit down, and they do it on their own.

"That's why I love when something like this comes along, because we're helping [kids] do it a little differently. We're adapting to them as opposed to having them adapt," Dellamore said. "That's why we're so excited about it, because it does change the dynamic of the classroom a little bit."